This
topic has made me think about what openness (in the digital world) really means
and what it would mean for me as a researcher and a teacher. It has also made
me think about my willingness to be open with my research and teaching practice.
So let’s tackle the issue of openness!

According to the Open Knowledge Foundation (OKF) “Open knowledge is what open data becomes when it’s useful, usable and used (OKF, n.d)”. Thus, open data are the building blocks of open knowledge and for data to be open it should be open and free for anyone to use, reuse and redistribute. But the OKF also add that data could be licenced with requirement to attribute and/or share-alike and still be considered open.  According to Weller (2014) openness could also mean the right to revise and change. Not often very desirable.This could be avoided if the chosen Creative Commons licence (CC, n.d.) states so.  

As a researcher I wonder if it is possible to protect data that I share in e.g. Open Knowledge from revisions and changes? I have not advanced that far in my investigation about sharing research data.  Further, my research concerns (mostly) sensitive data in health care so I have to consider e.g. how to deal with anonymisation, consent from participants, e.g patients, (Pollard & Celi, 2014) and generally what is
possible to share considering the General Data Protection Regulation.  Apart from these issues open data in research really opens up very interesting possibilities for research!

As a teacher I have no hesitations in openly (digitally) sharing recorded lectures, written material or reference lists, but there are more things inherent in the facilitation of learning. Sometimes it is the format of a course or course module that is the core learning material. This is evident in the ONL course this blog pertains to where the objectives are for participants to become more digitally literate and possibly more open with their learning/teaching, to enhance our competencies in peer learning and our (digital?) problem solving. (However, as I am struggling with a constant information overload in the current course I wonder what it is I am actually learning. I guess it will sort itself out eventually…) Anyway – I am not sure that I really have the time and resources to rethink the format for an open course so that it becomes a satisfactory learning process for the participants, with desired learning outcomes. After having read the chapter by DeRosa and Robison (2017), among several other chapters in the same book, I am convinced that creating an open course demands quite a lot of time, resources and know-how along with a strong underpinning learning philosophy. In my daily work with “closed” courses I already struggle to shape and refine courses so that learning is promoted.

The main focus of interest for me in this topic on openness have however been open text books. I have over the years become more and more concerned by the economic burden we put on students by demanding that they buy all these expensive books. As we are launching our international Master’s program in the autumn I am now on the hunt for open text books and looking into what e-books we have available in our university library. I really want to ease the way for all the international students who have applied to our Master’s program.

So if not completely open I am definitely letting the bird out of the cage!

References

Creative Commons. Share your work. Licensing considerations. https://creativecommons.org/share-your-work/public-domain/freeworks/
Accessed 29-03-2019

DeRosa, R and Robison S. (2017) From OER to Open
Pedagogy: Harnessing the Power of Open. In: Jhangiani, R S and Biswas-Diener,
R. (eds.) Open: The Philosophy and Practices that are Revolutionizing Education
and Science. Pp. 115–124. London: Ubiquity Press. DOI:
https://doi.org/10.5334/bbc.i. License: CC-BY 4.0  https://www.ubiquitypress.com/site/books/10.5334/bbc/

EU General Data Protection Regulation. https://eugdpr.org/ Accessed 29-03-2019

Moore, S. A. (ed.) (2014) Issues in Open Research
Data. London: Ubiquity Press. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5334/ban

https://www.ubiquitypress.com/site/books/10.5334/ban/

Open Knowledge Foundation. https://okfn.org/ Accessed 29-03-2019

Pollard, T. and Celi, L. A. (2014) Open Data in Health
Care. In: Moore, S. A. (ed.) Issues in Open Research Data.
Pp. 129–140. London: Ubiquity Press. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5334/ban.h

Weller, M. (2014) The Battle For Open: How openness
won and why it doesn’t feel like victory. London: Ubiquity Press. DOI: http://
dx.doi.org/10.5334/bam https://www.ubiquitypress.com/site/books/10.5334/bam/